Skippy's Threads for 11/30/07 (merged)

skippy · #1 11-29-2007, 09:43 PM

Boy Defends British Teacher Jailed in Sudan Over Naming of Teddy Bear Muhammad

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

KHARTOUM, Sudan — A 7-year-old Sudanese boy is defending the British teacher accused of insulting Islam by naming a teddy bear Muhammad, Reuters reported.

The boy said Gilliam Gibbons, 54, asked him, as part of a school assignment, what he wanted to call the stuffed animal and he said, 'Muhammad,' after his name, Reuters reported.

Sudanese authorities on Tuesday questioned Gibbons who could face charges of insulting religion — a crime punishable by up to 40 lashes, six months in prison or a fine.

Gibbons, of the private Unity High School in Khartoum, was arrested Sunday after one of her pupils' parents complained, accusing her of naming the bear after Islam's chief prophet. Muhammad is a common name among Muslim men, but connecting the prophet's name to an animal could be seen as insulting by many Muslims.

Several Sudanese newspapers Tuesday ran a statement reportedly from Unity High School saying that Gibbons had been "removed from work at the school" and apologizing for any offense, though it said the incident was a "misunderstanding."

The boy said when he suggested they name the bear Muhammad, he wasn't thinking of Islam's Prophet, Reuters reported.

He also said most of the class agreed with him on the name, Reuters reported.

In the first official comment on the case, Sudanese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday downplayed its significance, describing it as isolated but also condemning it.

Ministry spokesman, Ali al-Sadeq, said the case of a "teacher's misconduct against the Islamic faith" should not have provoked a British government caution warning to its citizens in Sudan.

Al-Sadeq said this was particularly so after the school had apologized to the parents, pupils and to the Sudanese in general for the teacher's "unacceptable conduct."

The statement in the newspapers was not officially confirmed by the school, however.

A person reached by phone at the school who identified herself as an administrator, said the statement was correct but would not confirm details in it. She refused to give her name, citing the sensitivity of the situation. She said the school has closed for at least the next week until the controversy eases.

The Unity High School, a private English-language school with elementary to high school levels, was founded by Christian groups but 90 percent of its students are Muslim, mostly from upper-class Sudanese families.

The school's director, Robert Boulos, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that the incident was "a completely innocent mistake. Miss Gibbons would have never wanted to insult Islam."

Gibbons was teaching her pupils, who are around 7 years old, about animals and asked one of them to bring in her teddy bear, Boulos said. She asked the students to pick names for it and they proposed Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad, and in the end the pupils voted to name it Muhammad, he said.

Each child was allowed to take the bear home on weekends and write a diary about what they did with it. The diary entries were collected in a book with the bear's picture on the cover, labeled, "My Name is Muhammad," though the bear itself was never labeled with the name, he said.

A former colleague of Gibbons, Jill Langworthy, told The Associated Press the lesson is a common one in Britain. "She's a wonderful and inspirational teacher, and if she offended or insulted anybody she'd be dreadfully sorry," Langworthy, who taught with Gibbons in Liverpool, said.

The case brought widespread calls in Britain for her release. The Muslim Council of Britain calls upon the Sudanese government to intervene in the case.

"This is a very unfortunate incident and Ms Gibbons should never have been arrested in the first place. It is obvious that no malice was intended," said Muhammad Abdul Bari, the council's secretary-general.

British opposition Conservative party lawmaker William Hague called on the British government to "make it clear to the Sudanese authorities that she should be released immediately."

"To condemn Gillian Gibbons to such brutal and barbaric punishment for what appears to be an innocent mistake is clearly unacceptable," he said.

Omar Daair, spokesman for the British Embassy in Sudan, said embassy officials were in touch with Sudanese authorities and had met with Gibbons. He said he expected authorities to decide whether to bring her to court, and on what charges, within a few days. "Her lawyer is trying to get her released on bail in the meanwhile," he said.

Gibbons was being questioned on suspicion of abuse of religion — a charge that is punishable by up to six months in prison, a fine or flogging of up to 40 lashes under Sudan's Islamic law-based legal system.

The case recalled the outrage that was sparked in the Islamic world when European newspapers ran cartoons deriding the Prophet Muhammad in recent years, prompting protests in many Muslim countries. The Prophet Muhammad is highly revered by Muslims, and most interpretations of the religion bar even favorable depiction of him, for fear of encouraging idolatry or misrepresenting him.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir earlier this month suggested he would ban Denmark, Sweden and Norway — where newspapers ran the cartoons — from contributing engineering personnel to a planned U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur.

But Sudanese authorities appeared so far to be playing down the incident of the British teacher. Her case has not been mentioned in state media.

The reported statement from the school said the administration "offers an official apology to the students and their families and all Muslims for what came from an individual initiative." It said Gibbons had been "removed from her work at the school."

The statement underlined the school's "deep respect for the heavenly religions" and for the "beliefs of Muslims and their rituals." It added that "the misunderstanding that has been raised over this issue leads to divisions that are disadvantageous to the reputation of the tolerant Sudanese people.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Davydave · #2 11-30-2007, 07:54 AM

Another country to add to the list....

sound · #3 11-30-2007, 10:13 AM

saw a hilarious bumper sticker the other day:

"act right, or we'll bring democracy to your country."

LOL!

seriously, though, it's good to see some moderation from the other muslim organizations. let's folks know that just because they are strict followers of a faith, they don't have to check their pragmatism at the door.

skippy · #4 11-30-2007, 10:50 AM

Calls in Sudan for execution of Briton

By MOHAMED OSMAN, Associated Press Writer
50 minutes ago

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear "Muhammad."

In response to the demonstration, teacher Gillian Gibbons was moved from the women's prison near Khartoum to a secret location for her safety, her lawyer said.

The protesters streamed out of mosques after Friday sermons, as pickup trucks with loudspeakers blared messages against Gibbons, who was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in prison and deportation. She avoided the more serious punishment of 40 lashes.

They massed in central Martyrs Square outside the presidential palace, where hundreds of riot police were deployed. They did not try to stop the rally, which lasted about an hour.

"Shame, shame on the U.K.," protesters chanted.

They called for Gibbons' execution, saying, "No tolerance: Execution," and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad."

Gibbons' chief lawyer, Kamal al-Gizouli, said she was moved from the prison for her safety for the final nine days of her sentence.

"They moved this lady from the prison department to put her in other hands and in other places to cover her and wait until she completes her imprisonment period," he said, adding that she was in good health.

"They want, by hook or by crook, to complete these nine days without any difficulties, which would have an impact on their foreign relationship," he said.

Several hundred protesters, not openly carrying weapons, marched from the square to Unity High School, about a mile away, where Gibbons worked. They chanted slogans outside the school, which is closed and under heavy security, then headed toward the nearby British Embassy. They were stopped by security forces two blocks away from the embassy.

The protest arose despite vows by Sudanese security officials the day before, during Gibbons' trial, that threatened demonstrations after Friday prayers would not take place. Some of the protesters carried green banners with the name of the Society for Support of the Prophet Muhammad, a previously unknown group.

Many protesters carried clubs, knives and axes — but not automatic weapons, which some have brandished at past government-condoned demonstrations. That suggested Friday's rally was not organized by the government.

A Muslim cleric at Khartoum's main Martyrs Mosque denounced Gibbons during one sermon, saying she intentionally insulted Islam. He did not call for protests, however.

"Imprisoning this lady does not satisfy the thirst of Muslims in Sudan. But we welcome imprisonment and expulsion," the cleric, Abdul-Jalil Nazeer al-Karouri, a well-known hard-liner, told worshippers.

"This an arrogant woman who came to our country, cashing her salary in dollars, teaching our children hatred of our Prophet Muhammad," he said.

Britain, meanwhile, pursued diplomatic moves to free Gibbons. Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke with a member of her family to convey his regret, his spokeswoman said.

"He set out his concern and the fact that we were doing all we could to secure her release," spokeswoman Emily Hands told reporters.

Most Britons expressed shock at the verdict by a court in Khartoum, alongside hope it would not raise tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain.

"One of the good things is the U.K. Muslims who've condemned the charge as completely out of proportion," said Paul Wishart, 37, a student in London.

"In the past, people have been a bit upset when different atrocities have happened and there hasn't been much voice in the U.K. Islamic population, whereas with this, they've quickly condemned it."

Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, accused the Sudanese authorities of "gross overreaction."

"This case should have required only simple common sense to resolve. It is unfortunate that the Sudanese authorities were found wanting in this most basic of qualities," he said.

The Muslim Public Affairs Committee, a political advocacy group, said the prosecution was "abominable and defies common sense."

The Federation of Student Islamic Societies, which represents 90,000 Muslim students in Britain and Ireland, called on Sudan's government to free Gibbons, saying she had not meant to cause offense.

"We are deeply concerned that the verdict to jail a schoolteacher due to what's likely to be an innocent mistake is gravely disproportionate," said the group's president, Ali Alhadithi.

The Ramadhan Foundation, a Muslim youth organization, said Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir should pardon the teacher.

"The Ramadhan Foundation is disappointed and horrified by the conviction of Gillian Gibbons in Sudan," said spokesman Mohammed Shafiq.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, said Gibbons' prosecution and conviction was "an absurdly disproportionate response to what is at worst a cultural faux pas."

Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoned the Sudanese ambassador late Thursday to express Britain's disappointment with the verdict. The Foreign Office said Britain would continue diplomatic efforts to achieve "a swift resolution" to the crisis.

Gibbons was arrested Sunday after another staff member at the school complained that she had allowed her 7-year-old students to name a teddy bear Muhammad. Giving the name of the Muslim prophet to an animal or a toy could be considered insulting.

The case put Sudan's government in an embarrassing position — facing the anger of Britain on one side and potential trouble from powerful Islamic hard-liners on the other. Many saw the 15-day sentence as an attempt to appease both sides.

In The Times, columnist Bronwen Maddox said the verdict was "something of a fudge ... designed to give a nod to British reproof but also to appease the street."

Britain's response — applying diplomatic pressure while extolling ties with Sudan and affirming respect for Islam — had produced mixed results, British commentators concluded.

In an editorial, The Daily Telegraph said Miliband "has tiptoed around the case, avoiding a threat to cut aid and asserting that respect for Islam runs deep in Britain. Given that much of the government's financial support goes to the wretched refugees in Darfur and neighboring Chad, Mr. Miliband's caution is understandable."

Now, however, the newspaper said, Britain should recall its ambassador in Khartoum and impose sanctions on the Sudanese regime.

skippy · #5 11-30-2007, 01:23 PM

Canadian police arrest "Real Life" movie pirate Sun Nov 18, 5:55 PM ET

TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - Montreal police have made the first arrest of a Canadian for illegally videotaping a movie in a cinema since legislation to criminalize unauthorized camcording became law here last June.

A Toronto representative of the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Assn. said Friday that Montreal police arrested a 23-year-old man October 26 on suspicion of recording Disney's Steve Carell comedy "Dan in Real Life" in a multiplex.

His identity will not be revealed until police complete their investigation and decide whether to bring formal charges. According to Quebec press reports, the man is understood to have had technology at hand to upload the movie to the Internet.

The incident marks the first arrest here since the passage of a bill that made recording a movie without a theater's permission a criminal offense, punishable by a fine and up to two years in jail. Canadians found to have profited by videotaping movies in cinemas face a maximum five-year jail term under the new law.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

skippy · #6 11-30-2007, 01:25 PM

Thai candidates accused of vote-buying with Viagra: official

14 hours ago

BANGKOK (AFP) — Parliamentary candidates in Thailand's upcoming election are trying to buy the votes of elderly men by passing out free Viagra, a local government official said Friday.

Thais head to the polls on December 23 for the first time since the military toppled the elected prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup last year.

Residents in Prathumthani, on the northern outskirts of Bangkok, reported some of the candidates were passing out doses of the anti-impotence drug in exchange for promised votes, said Sayan Nopkham, a local government official.

"The villagers told me they have been given one or two pills of Viagra by candidates. Then they come to me to ask for more pills, or sometimes coffee, in exchange for voting for my brother, who is also running for a seat," he told AFP.

Thailand has a long history of vote-buying, but laws banning it have recently been toughened.

Anyone found guilty of buying votes could face up to 10 years in prison while voters who accept money face up to five years in jail.

Charungwit Phumma, an investigator with the Election Commission, said he had received no formal complaints about a Viagra-for-votes scheme.
"It's a funny claim," he said.

Charungwit said the most common complaints filed with his office were voters being paid to join a political party or being promised cash for going to the ballot box.

skippy · #7 11-30-2007, 02:05 PM

$22,000 cat hybrid has exotic look

Reuters

Published: Friday, November 30, 2007

NEW YORK -- For cat lovers with exotic tastes and deep pockets, a California biotech company has created a hybrid breed that resembles a mini leopard and sells for $22,000 US.

The Ashera is a mix between an African Serval, an Asian leopard and a domesticated cat that can weigh up to 13.5 kilograms. A hypoallergenic version is also available with a price tag starting at $28,000 US.

"It's exotic, but under the skin it's a domestic house cat, very easy to take care of and extremely friendly," said Simon Brodie, founder of Lifestyle Pets which developed the breed.

"Everybody has thought at one time, wouldn't it be great to have a leopard at home, or a tiger. Obviously you can't and this is about the nearest thing to it," he added in an interview.

The Ashera is not as aloof as some cats, is very vocal and can open doors and walk on a leash, according to the company.

"They're more dog-like than anything," Brodie said.

Many customers are first-time cat owners or dog lovers who are attracted to the canine qualities and the relatively self-sufficient nature of cats. Most of the 100 Ashera cats sold this year by the company have been to customers in Russia and China.

The Ashera is just one of a growing breed of designer cats.

Other hybrid varieties include the Toyger, which is a cross of a Bengal and a domestic cat, the Chausie, a mix of jungle and domestic cats, and the Savannah, which resulted from breeding an African Serval and a house cat.

Brodie admitted there were similarities between the Savannah and Ashera but said consistency in size and temperament were key differentiating factors.

"Anybody can throw the ingredients in, but unless you know what ingredients are the best ingredients in the best percentages, you're not going to produce the same final product," he explained.

revnecro1273 · #8 11-30-2007, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skippy

Canadian police arrest "Real Life" movie pirate Sun Nov 18, 5:55 PM ET

that is pretty excessive....why should the canadian govt even care about such an act? it is not like canada really has a profitable film industry that such acts would take away from any real profit